Policy management functionality within a cloud service brokerage platform

Abstract

A policy is created for governing a manner in which a cloud service account task is performed. The policy can include one or more policy rules and one or more different types of policy contexts. The one or more policy rules define one or more outcomes of the cloud service account task for different conditions when the policy is applied thereto. The one or more policy contexts specify one or more parameters that define a boundary within which the cloud service account task must be implemented to thereby cause the policy to be applied thereto.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having tangibly embodied thereon and accessible therefrom instructions interpretable by at least one data processing device, the instructions are configured for causing the at least one data processing device to perform a method enabling brokering of cloud services, the method comprising:
 instantiating an instance of a policy used for governing a manner in which a cloud service account task is performed, wherein the policy includes a policy rule defining an outcome of the policy for the cloud service account task and a policy context defining a boundary within which the cloud service account task must be implemented to thereby cause the at least one policy rule to be applied to the cloud service account task; and   applying the policy to the cloud service platform task upon implementation thereof in accordance with the policy rule and the policy context.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein the policy rule specifies an approval procedure for the cloud service platform task. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 2  wherein the order approval is performed in accordance with one of a system implemented approval procedure and an externally implemented approval workflow. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein the policy rule includes:
 a condition specifying a threshold parameter thereof; and 
 an action to be implemented in response to it being determined that the condition has been met. 
 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein:
 the cloud service platform task includes approval of a cloud service order; 
 the policy rule includes a cloud service order charge condition specifying a threshold charge amount thereof; and 
 an approval action to be implemented in response to it being determined that the cloud service order charge condition has been met. 
 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 5  wherein the approval action includes auto-approval for at least one of a plurality of required approval entities. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 6  wherein the approval action includes auto-approval for all of the required approval entities 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein:
 the policy context includes a base context defining a boundary of a cloud service solution within which the cloud service platform task is implemented and a user context designating a user responsible for causing the cloud service platform task to be implemented; and 
 applying the policy to the cloud service platform task upon implementation thereof is only performed when the base context and the user context are met. 
 
     
     
         9 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, by a system configured to facilitate brokering of cloud services, a request for instantiating an instance of a policy used for governing a manner in which a cloud service platform task is performed,   receiving, by the system configured to facilitate brokering of cloud services, information defining the policy instantiation in response to receiving the request for instantiating the instance of the policy;   receiving, by the system configured to facilitate brokering of cloud services, information defining a policy rule to be after receiving the policy instantiation information, wherein the policy rule defines an outcome of the policy; and   receiving, by the system configured to facilitate brokering of cloud services, information defining a policy context after receiving the policy instantiation information, wherein the policy context defining a boundary within which the cloud service account task must be implemented to thereby cause the at least one policy rule to be applied to the cloud service account task; and   applying, by the system configured to facilitate brokering of cloud services, the policy to the cloud service platform task upon implementation thereof after receiving the information defining the policy instantiation, the information defining the policy rule, and the information defining the policy context.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the policy rule specifies an approval procedure for the cloud service platform task. 
     
     
         11 . The non method of  claim 9  wherein the policy rule includes:
 a condition specifying a threshold parameter thereof; and 
 an action to be implemented in response to it being determined that the condition has been met. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein:
 the cloud service platform task includes approval of a cloud service order; 
 the policy rule includes a cloud service order charge condition specifying a threshold charge amount thereof; and 
 an approval action to be implemented in response to it being determined that the cloud service order charge condition has been met. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9  wherein:
 the policy context includes a base context defining a boundary of a cloud service solution within which the cloud service platform task is implemented and a user context designating a user responsible for causing the cloud service platform task to be implemented; and 
 applying the policy to the cloud service platform task upon implementation thereof is only performed when the base context and the user context are met. 
 
     
     
         14 . A cloud services brokerage system, comprising:
 a cloud service order module enabling a cloud service consumer to generate orders for cloud services offered by a cloud service provider; and   a policy manager coupled to the cloud service order module, wherein the policy manager enables instantiation of a policy used for governing order approval for at least one of said cloud service orders, wherein the policy includes at least one policy rule defining an outcome of the policy for the at least one of said cloud service orders and a policy context specifying one or more parameters that define a boundary within which the cloud service account task must be implemented to thereby causes the at least one policy rule to be executed for the cloud service account task.   
     
     
         15 . The cloud services brokerage system of  claim 15  wherein the order approval is performed in accordance with one of a system implemented approval procedure and an externally implemented approval workflow. 
     
     
         16 . The cloud services brokerage system of  claim 14  wherein:
 the policy rule includes a cloud service order charge condition specifying a threshold charge amount thereof; and 
 an approval action to be implemented in response to it being determined that the cloud service order charge condition has been met. 
 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16  wherein the approval action includes auto-approval for at least one of a plurality of required approval entities. 
     
     
         18 . The cloud services brokerage system of  claim 14  wherein:
 the policy context includes a base context defining a boundary of a cloud service solution within which the order approval is implemented and a user context designating a user responsible for causing the order approval to be implemented; and 
 applying the policy to the order approval upon implementation thereof is only performed when the base context and the user context are met. 
 
     
     
         19 . The cloud services brokerage system of  claim 18  wherein:
 the policy rule includes a cloud service order charge condition specifying a threshold charge amount thereof; and 
 an approval action to be implemented in response to it being determined that the cloud service order charge condition has been met. 
 
     
     
         20 . The cloud services brokerage system of  claim 19  wherein the order approval is performed in accordance with a system implemented approval procedure.